The workshops addressed key issues associated with the societal benefits of Earth observations and the exploitation of Earth observation for societal policy and decision making.

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE GAP ANALYSIS WORKSHOP

The Gap Analysis workshop discussed the outcomes of the gap analysis and prioritization performed in the ConnectinGEO project. This gap analysis was guided by the information and knowledge needs resulting from humanity's “Road to Dignity” detailed in the Agenda 2030 and specified in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed upon by the United Nations. Both the monitoring and implementation of actions to achieve these goals require extensive support from Earth observation and science communities. Several directives and crosscuting issues in Europe provided further guidance for the gap analysis.

The workshop provided a forum to review the methodology for gap analysis and prioritization, discussed the relevant gaps and priorities in the European Earth observation networks and developed a strategy to address those gaps that have a high priority assigned.

The objectives of the gap analysis and prioritization workshop were to:

• Assess the ConnectinGEO methodology for gap analysis and prioritization;
• Review the list of gaps identified and the prioritization achieved;
• Produce a final list of gaps with high priority;
• Discuss a strategy to address these gaps and provide recommendations for the European Network of Earth Observation Networks (ENEON) and the European Commission concerning high-priority gaps.

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ENEON WORKSHOP

ConnectinGEO is engaged in exploring the benefits and options of constituting a European Network of Earth Observation Networks (ENEON) that encompasses current networks in Europe in a single entity. The ENEON is designed as a forum for discussing gaps in the Earth observation networks and proposing concrete solutions to the European Commission in terms of completeness but also for ensuring continuity of critical infrastructures both in-situ and space based. It also serves as a coordination point for the European contribution to GEOSS with a focus on in-situ networks and encouraging the alignment of a transversal set of Essential Variables that is currently advocated by GEO.

The Objectives of the ENEON workshop were to:

• Bring together the main current Earth Observation networks in Europe, including those that are umbrella initiatives;
• Continue the development of an ENEON strategy from organizational and subject points of view;
• Assess the extent to which ENEON is embedded in the European Earth observation landscape;
• Outline a more general, “ENEON-based” concept that may serve as best-practice/model to be used to achieve similar objectives in other regions of the world;
• Discuss the status of work in the ENEON components and the work for the next year;
• Explore options for ENEON contributions to the GEO Work Programme.

OUTPUT

OUTPUT OF THE GAP ANALYSIS AND PRIORITIZATION WORKSHOP

The high-level output of the Gap Analysis and Prioritization Workshop will be a report describing the gap analysis and prioritization methodology developed in ConnectinGEO and providing a detailed list of prioritized gaps.

OUTPUT OF THE ENEON WORKSHOP

The high-level output of the workshop will be a report describing the status and plans of ENEON in terms of organizational and subject-focused aspects.

PROGRAM AND SCHEDULE

Programs to be included soon.

SCHEDULE

Overview October 10-14, 2016

Note that the Session titles are preliminary and may change to some extent in the next weeks.

PRACTICAL DETAILS

PARTICIPATION

The Gap Analysis and Prioritization Workshop and the ENEON Workshop are open to representatives of European groups, networks, and services engaged in European or global earth observation activities, including the maintenance of in situ networks and value-adding processing of observations to provide advanced products and services.

The ConnectinGEO Project meeting is by invitation only.

DEADLINES

Deadlines are identical for both workshops. Please, try to submit abstracts and register prior to the deadlines given below to support the planning of the event. However, abstracts and registrations will be accepted after the deadlines.

• Submission of abstracts: September 21, 2016.
• Registration deadline: September 21, 2016.

COMMITTEES

Local Organizing Committee:

• Ian McCallum
• Stephen Fritz
• Ivette Serral

Program Committee Gap Analysis and Prioritization Workshop:

• TIWAH: Hans-Peter Plag, Shelley Jules-Plag
• CREAF: Joan Masó, Ivette Serral
• IIASA: Ian McCallum
• GEO Secretariat: Giovanni Rum
• CMCC: Antonio Bombelli
• CNR-ISSIA: Palma Blonda
• IEEE: Jay Pearlman, Françoise Pearlman, Siri Jodha Khalsa
• CISC: Emili García-Ladona
• BIRA-IASB: Martine De Maziere
• NILU: Kjetil Tørseth, Wenche As
• ARMINES: Lionel Menard, Lucien Wald

Program Committee ENEON Workshop:

• IIASA: Ian McCallum, Steffen Fritz
• CREAF: Joan Masó, Ivette Serral
• GEO Secretariat: Giovanni Rum
• TIWAH: Hans-Peter Plag, Shelley Jules-Plag
• CMCC: Antonio Bombelli
• CNR-ISSIA: Palma Blonda
• IEEE: Jay Pearlman, Françoise Pearlman, Siri Jodha Khalsa
• CISC: Emili García-Ladona
• BIRA-IASB: Martine De Maziere
• NILU: Kjetil Tørseth, Wenche As
• ARMINES: Lionel Menard, Lucien Wald

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Support for the Workshop

	The workshops are organized as workshop of ConnectinGEO, a project which received funding from the European Union Framework Program for Research and Innovation (SC5-18a-2014) under grant agreement no. 641538.
	The workshops are hosted by IIASA.
	Tiwah supports the Workshop by hosting and maintaining the GSTSS.

Technical Advice and Support for the Workshop

ABSTRACTS

Speakers are not asked to submit abstracts for their presentations. However, those who would like to provide an abstract are invited to do so by sending the abstract to hpplag @ tiwah.com. Abstracts made available prior to the events will be included in the program pages.

REGISTRATION

Go directly to the registration page (using EventBride). Note that you need to click on "Select a Date" first to get the page with the "Register" button. Select any of the dates and then click on "Register". After that, you can indicate which of the events you want to attend.

Pre-Registration is strongly recommended before September 21, 2016 to help the organizers in the planning of the events. To register for the individual events, a registration page is available here. Note that this page is using EventBride for the registration. You can indicate which of the three events you plan to attend. For the project team meeting, the organizers reserve the right to accept or reject applications from individuals not representing a project partner.

If you plan to present at one of the events, please use the abstract submission page to submit an abstract.

VENUE

The ConnectinGEO and ENEON workshops will take place at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) located in Laxenburg, Austria:
IIASA
Schlossplatz 1
A-2361 Laxenburg
Austria
Tel.: (+43-2236) 807 0
Fax: (+43-2236) 71313
E-mail: inf at iiasa.ac.at

Information on the specific meeting rooms will be provided on the program pages.

LOGISTICS

 Contents

• Travel Logistics
• Climate and Weather
• Restaurants
• Workshop Dinner(s)
• What to do and visit in Laxenburg?

 Travel Logistics

Getting to Laxenburg, Vienna and IIASA:

• From Airport to IIASA:
  • The fastest and quickest option is to use a taxi. Public transport requires you to go first into Vienna, then South again to IIASA which takes 1.25-1.5 hours in total.
  • By Taxi from the Airport or Vienna: A taxi from either the Airport or Vienna to Laxenburg will cost about €40-45 in both cases and take 30 minutes.
• From Vienna International Airport to Hotel Prinz Eugen and/or Motel One Wien-Hauptbahnhof:
  • By public transportation from Vienna/Airport: From Vienna Airport you can take the City Airport Train (CAT) to the Wien Mitte/Landstrasse station (the journey takes 16 minutes). There are signs to the CAT train in the airport arrivals hall (http://www.cityairporttrain.com/Infos/Fahrplan.aspx). The shuttle costs €11 one way and €17 for a roundtrip. From here you have to walk – follow the signs, to connect to the underground. The CAT will take you to the Wien Mitte station in Vienna from which you can either:
    • Take a taxi that costs ca. 10 EUR to your hotel — 5 minutes, or
    • Take the U4 (green line) at Wien Mitte station changing at Karlsplatz to the U1 (red line) 2 stops and get off at Hauptbahnhof (Vienna Central Station). The Hotel Prinz Eugen is 450 meters and Motel One Wien Hauptbahnhof is 600 meters from the station. See the map below to get an overview of the area.
      
  • You can also take the “schnellbahn” train from Vienna Airport into the city — this is a bit slower but cheaper than the CAT.
  • You can also take a bus into the city — buses are parked just outside the departures area.
• The bus from Vienna to IIQASA in Laxenburg:
  • Once in Vienna take the red U1 subway line to Hauptbahnhof Station.
  • From Hauptbahnhof follow the bus signs to the exit Bus Terminal, which is located on the left hand side adjacent to the main entrance of the train station.
  • We are arranging a charter bus scheduled to depart Vienna Hauptbahnhof at 8:30 am from Tuesday thru Friday (11-14 October). This bus will take you from Hauptbahnhof and will let you off at the bus stop Franz-Josefs-Platz. For that, at the Bus Terminal (Stand N2) in Hauptbahnhof (from the U1/red line stop follow the signs to the bus terminal) take the bus Laxenburg (200). Ian will be at the bus stop to direct you. The trip takes about 30 minutes and costs are covered by IIASA. The bus will leave promptly at 8:30 am!
  • If you miss the 8:30 am bus, there is a 8:40 and a 9:10 Bus #200 that will take you to Laxenburg. Please get off at Franz-Josefs-Platz. The trip costs €4.40 for a one-way ticket. At the Bus Terminal (Stand N2) you can catch the #200 bus to Laxenburg (sometimes the bus destination may indicate Eisenstadt). Check with the driver whether the bus you are boarding is going to Laxenburg.
  • When viewing the map of Laxenburg, the bus stop is located in the upper left hand corner near the Schloss Restaurant (marked by a bus symbol). The main entrance of the IIASA Schloss is indicated on the center of the map and is about a 2-minute walk from the bus stop.
  • For the evenings, you will need to take a regular bus that will pass by the bus stop Franz-Josefs-Platz and take you to Hauptbahnhof. The evening bus schedule is 16:47, 17:17, 17:55, 18:17, and 19:17. For the full bus schedule see here.
  • For the evening bus, you will need to pay yourself and the ticket costs €4.40 one way.
   
  Location of Bus station and IIASA and the view of IIASA.
  
  
  Follow the bus signs up to Favoritenstrasse.
  
  
  Cross the road to the bus terminal.
  
  
  Bus 200 leaves from terminal N2.
  
  

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   Climate and Weather

  Climate in Laxenburg is moderate but warm. Throughout the whole year there is significant percipitation. The total amount of anual precipiation is on the order of 630 mm. Even the driest month January shows high amounts of precipitation with 34 mm on average. The month with the highest average precipitation is June with 77 mm. The annual average temperature is 9.9 oC.

  For weather, see the most recent full ten-day forecast for Vienna here, which is representative for Laxenburg.

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   Restaurants

  See here for an overview of the local restaurants.

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 Workshop Dinner

A no-host dinner is planned for Monday evening at the Italian restaurant Gallo Rosso at 18:30. The restaurant is in Laxenburg across the street from the bus stop participants can take immediately after dinner back to the Hauptbahnhof in Vienna.

The plans for no-host dinners on other evenings have not been finalized. Information will be added here as it becomes available.

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 What to do and visit in Laxenburg?

See wikipedia and City Page for recommendations.  

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ACCOMMODATION

There are a limited number of hotels in the vicinity of the venue. However, using public transportation, many hotels in Vienna can be reached. A list of most recomended hotels is provided below.

In walking distance of the meeting venue:

• Pension Falknerhaus

The hotels below are the most recommended for the price and proximity to the Vienna Hauptbahnhof from where you will take the bus to IIASA (Laxenburg) which takes 35 minutes (see logistics). The hotels (Prinz Eugen, Motel One Wien Hauptbahnhof, Hotel Beim Theresianum) are all walking distance to the Hauptbahnhof. We were able to make a block booking for 25 rooms at the Hotel Prinz Eugen that were held until mid September, after which it will be based on the hotel's availability. Note that IIASA's rate at the respective hotels could have increased as it is dependent on time of year and availability.

Both hotels are located in the south of Vienna and provide convenient access to both the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) and the bus terminal to IIASA. The Hotel Prinz Eugen is 6 minutes and Motel One Wien-Hauptbahnhof is 4 minutes walking distance to the bus stop located directly under the bridge, where you could take the bus to get to IIASA.

HOTEL OPTIONS

Prinz Eugen****
Wiedner Gürtel 14, 1040 Vienna
Tel.: 505-17-41/Fax: 505-17-41-19
E-mail: prinzeugen@private-hotels.at — contact Birgit Pawel and quote our booking code: ENEON
We have 25 rooms blocked at the special rate of €75 Single/€85 Double occupancy which includes Wifi, breakfast and all taxes.
500 Meters from Vienna Hauptbahnhof

Motel One Wien-Hauptbahnhof
€70,74 (excl. breakfast) Single
€86,12 (excl. breakfast) Double

Hotel Beim Theresianum
Favoritenstrasse 52, 1040 Vienna
Tel.: 505-16-06-0/Fax: 505-16-06-09
E-mail: theresianum@austria-trend.at
Standard: €85
Business: €105